Rottnest Island is famous for its little, hopping, fury quokkas. But who knew it’s the seagulls there that one has to be careful of?
My girlfriend, Margarita, and I travelled to Rottnest Island one Friday recently. Rottnest Island is a small island, 19km2, situated off the coast of Western Australia, 18 kilometres west of Fremantle. We caught the 9:30am ferry from Fremantle and enjoyed the comfortable half hour crossing to Rotto (as it’s called by locals).
We arrived at the main pier in Thomson Bay to a clear, sunny, still day. Rotto has many attractions such as sandy beaches with clear blue sea, and snorkelling opportunities at many of the bays. There is various wildlife around the island such as the New Zealand fur seals which can be seen splashing about in the ocean from the look-out at the western tip of the island, but the main attraction are the quokkas. Rottnest Island is one of the few places where these small, dark furry marsupials, about the size of a domestic cat, can be found. As Margarita is studying marsupials at university, the quokkas were our main motivation for going to the island.
There are a few ways to get around the island. A popular method is hiring a bicycle. We chose to buy a ticket for the hop-on/hop-off bus tour. Considering the temperature was in the 30’s, it was a much better option sitting on a bus then breaking your back riding around in the heat.
We stopped at a few picturesque places along the south coast but success for our hunt for quokkas came at the Wadjemup lighthouse. The little buggers are so cute and so friendly. They hop about like miniature kangaroos. The well sought after souvenir is a selfie with a quokka which isn’t too difficult as they can be quite inquisitive and come right up to you. We spent 15 minutes with half a dozen of them including a cute baby quokka which kept close to its mother’s side.
After many more interactions with the quokkas and visits to paradisiacal beaches we returned to Thomson Bay at 5pm in need of something to eat. Surprisingly, all the dining options were closed with the exception of Subway. That was no problem as we both like the food from subway. The only problem was there was no indoor seating available. Sitting outside on the beach, or at a park bench under a tree, is fine in theory but the seagulls on Rottnest are aggressive buggers. They’re known to grab food right out of your hand. Many of the shops have signs warning tourists of the attacking seagulls. Thankfully, we were aware of this as we searched for a quiet spot free of seagulls. Three locations later we finally finished our subs. At each spot, we started eating only to be interrupted when the seagulls discovered us. So we moved to somewhere new only to be discovered again. By the end I was able to finish and act as a bodyguard to Margarita whilst she finished her foot long. Meanwhile, the surrounding quokkas left us alone.
We had a great day on the island and caught the 7pm ferry back to Fremantle. There is a wide range of accommodation options on Rottnest, many with breathtaking views of the ocean. I would love to visit the island again and spend a few nights there, relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Having a place to stay would also provide a safe place from the savage seagulls.
*Check out my photo gallery for pics of Rottnest island and the quokkas.
